Although I'm a Beatles freak, don't get me started on the Kinks---Ray & Dave are BELOVED by me too. But I never made that comparison to Abbey Road. Brilliant observation. Ray was/and still is I suppose, the king of the 3 minute rock opera (w/ Pete Townshend of course claiming the longer form)but now that u mention it, Side 2 of Abbey R. has all those short ditties (or snippets) that would make any Kinks fan salivate...(any one of which could've found it's way onto the Kinks Kronikles compilation w/ ease..)

funny you should mention death of a clown as that is one of the songs that comes to mind when i think of a few of lennons tracks on abbey road, from the lyrics to the chord changes it sounds very kinksy to me and then his voice sounds very different from his usual voice, slight london twang.

yeah i love the kinks theres even some days when i prefer them to the Beatles but i prefer the Beatles the other 300 days, he is a lyrical genius and there songs are so refreshing, i definitely think they sit second in my books.

On a cold and frosty morning, Wipe my eyes and stop me yawning. And my feet are nearly frozen,Boil the tea and put some toast on.

..and whenever i play my "Everybody's In Show Biz" cd (I had the vinyl of it back in 72) I can ONLY smile..The Kinks always made me happy as hell...even though I know Ray's lyrics are often about the hard life of the working class, his whimsy & compassion always got to me. (I can almost hear "Celluloid Heroes" in my head right now !!..I'm not kidding--and I'm no where near my stereo at the moment!!)

but like I said, DONT START ME UP ABOUT THE KINKS--this is our BELOVED BEATLES site !!!!!

Do you call "Come Together", "She's So Heavy"...AND his, Paul and George's PERFECT vocals on "Because" not being inspired by much ??(not to mention his contributions to Side II's "medley" ??) Maybe you were listening to a different Abbey Road than I did... )(*shrugs*) (it was the "Get Back" sessions in EARLY '69 that he and the others were so famously discontented(subsequently to be renamed Let It Be) but by Spring of that same year they were fully enjoying the entire recording of Abbey Road together--it was like "old times". John didnt get his wanderlust again until AFTER A.R. was complete. By September '69 he issued his "walking papers" in earnest. To say he was uninspired during the A. R. sessions is a myth.

..and whenever i play my "Everybody's In Show Biz" cd (I had the vinyl of it back in 72) I can ONLY smile..The Kinks always made me happy as hell...even though I know Ray's lyrics are often about the hard life of the working class, his whimsy & compassion always got to me. (I can almost hear "Celluloid Heroes" in my head right now !!..I'm not kidding--and I'm no where near my stereo at the moment!!)

but like I said, DONT START ME UP ABOUT THE KINKS--this is our BELOVED BEATLES site !!!!!

Do you call "Come Together", "She's So Heavy"...AND his, Paul and George's PERFECT vocals on "Because" not being inspired by much ??

Lets see, a song spouting out needless drivel with no subject matter that plays off of being the poorest copy of 'I Am The Walrus' ever (Come Together), a song that is so repetitve that you have already listened to it after a minute into it (I Want You,,,,and thank god its almost 8 minutes long,,,sheesh), and a freaking song that I would bet my life on that Paul put together (Because). No not inspired at all. (By the way,,,Sun King sucks too, but i do like the snippets of Polythene Pam and Mean Mr. Mustard. Should have been complete tunes.)

Quote

Maybe you were listening to a different Abbey Road than I did... )

No,,,it was the same.

Quote

(it was the "Get Back" sessions in EARLY '69 that he and the others were so famously discontented(subsequently to be renamed Let It Be) but by Spring of that same year they were fully enjoying the entire recording of Abbey Road together--it was like "old times". John didnt get his wanderlust again until AFTER A.R. was complete. By September '69 he issued his "walking papers" in earnest. To say he was uninspired during the A. R. sessions is a myth.

Thanks for the history lesson and its no myth. He had crawled so far up into yoko's girl private by this time that its a miracle the album got done at all. Paul pleaded for the band to make this last ditch effort and its not hard to see that he did the majority of the work here. 'Old Times' my ass. John and Paul wasnt spending time by the pool and writing together, they still practicaly wrote their own tunes by themselves on this album (John just loved Maxwells Silver Hammer). Thank goodness they all four knew how much of a failure the Get Back sessions were and they decided to go out with a decent effort. Thanks Paul.

BlueMeanie

but by Spring of that same year they were fully enjoying the entire recording of Abbey Road together--it was like "old times".

I don't think so. Apart from basic backing tracks, they were never all in the studio at the same time. In fact John remarked that the best thing to do with Abbey Road was to put all his songs on one side, and Paul's on the other!

Unless macca was putting a more congenial face on things (which he was apt to do sometimes) I got this info from the horse's mouth not my imagination..Unless of course John was inwardly sour from from L.I.B. and well into the Abbey Road sessions, the McCartney "spin" on the relative mood of the final record has something to do w/ his (macca's) "mother-hen" attitude of trying to keep the band together, I don't know--but I did read his account only--John wasnt giving many interviews during that period. If JL would've said more at the time, many fans would not hold this apparent misconception about the last LP-maybe Paul wasnt lying...perhaps he just saw things HIS way....possible.

But songs about quirky characters were all the rage. Eleanor Rigby, SF Sorrow, Arnold Lane, Tommy. Maybe just John following a trend?

yes, but it never occurs to me the John would follow anyone else's trend--he was so original. It's very possible...but something tells me he would have wrote these ditties irregardless. He always took chances.